Welcome, friend! Today I am chatting with author Mara Valderran about her book, Heirs of War, Ordained by Fate. This book is a YA Fantasy novel, first in a series and you may remember it from Mara’s Indie recommends Indie feature.
Get to know the author: Mara Valderran
Hi Mara! Welcome to Armed with A Book. Tell me and my readers a bit about yourself!
Hi, Kriti! Thank you so much for having me. I’m a big fantasy fan–I love reading it, writing it, watching it, cosplaying it, gaming it, table-topping it, etc. Basically, I’m a big nerd who never grew out of playing pretend. I’m also a mom now, too. Did she have a Hobbit themed half birthday? Absolutely. Is her form of rebellion going to be to choose reality TV over Harry Potter? Most likely. But until she gets there, it’s all geek all the time.
What inspired you to write this book?
My inspiration came from my love of fantasy coupled with the close bond I shared with my sister and cousins. We were all like sisters but also we were friends. When we came together, it felt like there was nothing we couldn’t accomplish or get through together. It was a bond beyond family–it was magic. I didn’t base the characters on our personalities in the end. Well, my family still says I’m Zelene but that’s just because sarcasm is her first language.
How long did it take you to write this book, from the first idea to the last edit?
From the first idea, it was probably 7 or 8 years. I kept getting lost in that vicious cycle of rewriting everything you’d already written and making no actual progress in the story. Once I had the finished draft, it was about a year and a half between edits and publishing.
What makes your story unique?
The unique elements are going to sound generic, to be honest. The world I’ve built is definitely my own, but of course there are generic similarities to other fantasy works when we all draw from similar myths (like Brownies, dragons, witches, etc). What I feel is powerful in my book is the relationship between the Duillaine. These girls are thrown together and told not only are they family, but that they have the weight of the worlds on their shoulders. Instead of hating each other, they embrace each other. We find family in the most unlikely of places and people, and they pull together their own unique family with the Cynewards and the friends they make in Anscombe.
Who would enjoy reading your book?
If you are a fan of a cast of characters and snarky strong women, then you’ll love Heirs of War. Fans of Sarah J Maas and Merissa Myer should definitely pick up this series and give it a go.
What’s something you hope readers would take away from it?
Love is strength. It empowers us to overcome impossible odds and wade through the deepest pits of grief by embracing the love still around us.
Do you have a favourite quote or scene in the book that you find yourself going back to?
Zelene after Varrick tells her that she’s essentially revered royalty and he introduces her to her father and the Duillaine:
You call that an explanation? There are so many questions that leaves me with, I don’t know where to start. I’ll start with this though: If I’m royalty, then where’s my crown? Because I know of a small dark place I’d like to shove it right now.
Heirs of War, Ordained by Fate is the first book in the Heir of War series. Tell me about the series.
The series takes us through the journeys of all five girls. They are all pieces to this prophecy, and it requires something of them. They’re each unique and so different from one another, but their bond just gets stronger with every trial they go through. And their powers definitely grow. Too much, you might say. I think they come to see that just because they land on one side of a war doesn’t mean it is the right one, and maybe that’s the point of the prophecy.
What is something you have learned on your author journey so far?
Being a pantser and writing a fantasy novel is not a good idea. Map things out. Write things down. You might not follow the plot map (especially if your characters are like mine and tend to go “Get in loser, we’re going off the map!”), but you will thank yourself for having a story bible that details races, laws, society, and places along with descriptions. It’s a lot less work putting it in the story bible when you write it than finding it later when you need to describe it again.
What’s the best piece of advice you have received related to writing?
Don’t get lost in the marketing. I took a hiatus from publishing and writing completely because life happened and I had already gotten so burned out on the business side of things that I no longer wanted to write. Now I write for myself. I write the stories that are in my head and heart, the ones that matter to me. And when I market, I market with the mindset that my books will not be for everyone. There are plenty of best sellers out there that I read and didn’t like.
If you could give a shout out to someone(s) who has helped in your writer journey, please feel free to mention them below!
Oh my gosh, I have so many. Krystal Wade who has acted as a guide, friend, and mentor on my publishing journey and believed in me enough to ask me to be the marketing director of the small press she started, Kriscinda Everett who taught me so much about what it means to be a writer and how to tell my story, Gretchen Byers who will always be my OG Ariana and Zelene, all of the readers and reviewers, everyone who took time to comment on the books on Wattpad, and my family and friends who have always supported me in this. I am beyond lucky to have so many people who have gone through this journey with me.
Heirs of War, Ordained by Fate
Young Adult Fantasy, Published 2013
Seventeen-year-old Zelene had never believed in magic or prophecies; until the day she was attacked by an assassin with unnatural powers. Now, her life has been thrust into a war between two worlds she knows nothing about and told that she must fight against an enemy determined to snuff out her existence—all because of some ancient prophecy that claims five girls from her bloodline will unite and end the war between the worlds.
The girls are taken back to their home world and discover the ties binding them together. Rhaya has always had an uncanny knack for reading people, but can’t seem to unravel the mystery tying her to Isauria, the new friend she bonded with instantly. For years, Isauria has been dreaming of Terrena, a girl living her life on the run in a magical world ripped apart by the tragedies of war, completely unaware that she is psychically linked to the world she was born in. Zelene sees this connection as a prison rather than protection and can think of a place or two she’d like to shove the crown she supposedly inherited.
When Zelene finds out her long-lost twin Ariana has been captured by rebels, her attitude changes abruptly. She doesn’t know how she can go up against an army of powerful adversaries when her own ability to manipulate the elements remains dormant within her. But time is running out and all that matters to Zelene is rescuing her sister—no matter how much destruction it causes in its wake.
Trigger warnings for physical abuse and torture.
Book Excerpt from
Heirs of War, Ordained by Fate
Chapter 12
After returning to Anscombe
Zelene curled her knees into her chest as the events of the past twenty-four hours came flooding back to her. She didn’t want to get out from underneath the covers. She wanted to believe this to be one big, bad dream.
“Come now, youn’ miss, me knows ya be awake now,” a squeaky female voice with an accent making her difficult to understand said from right beside her bed. The voice seemed to be level with her pillow, as though they were kneeling beside her. “Is time t’ eat. Time t’ wake up. Big day ‘head of ya, youn’ miss.”
Zelene slowly pulled back the blanket, the idea of food overruling the idea of exercising denial through sleeping. She was met with a pair of eyes so big they gave the impression that someone had screwed two light bulbs into a tan furry face and painted large black dots on them. Her own eyes widened as she screamed, flying off her bed and tumbling onto the one next to hers.
“Easy,” a girl who looked to be a year or two older than her said. She donned a red and white sundress and her jet-black hair was pulled into windblown ponytail.
“What the hell is that thing?” Zelene demanded.
“Don’t be rude,” the girl chided. “How can you be afraid of them? They’re adorable.” She turned back to the small creature. “Zelene won’t hurt you, I promise,” she assured it.
Zelene wasn’t sure she could keep that promise. Not if that thing came near her again. Zelene stared at the girl, thinking she was far too bubbly for their situation. Judging by the scrapes lining the girl’s pale cheek, she had been attacked as well.
“I’m Rhaya, by the way,” the dark-haired girl offered her hand.
Zelene weakly shook it, her focus remaining on the humanoid creature with its gangly limbs. The creature was maybe two feet tall, coming to just above the girl’s knees. It placed two skinny hands on its hips, its thin lips frowned at the tray Zelene had toppled over in her hurry to get away.
“O’ course she won’t,” it scoffed. “But now I hasta clean up tha mess. You’s just goin’ t’ hafta wait on breakfast now. I’ll hafta go make so’ more.”
Zelene stared at the little creature shaking its finger at her as if she were a child. “S-sorry,” she stammered. She turned to the dark haired girl and whispered, “What is that?”
“A brownie,” the girl answered with a smile causing her prominent eyes to look even brighter than before.
“Not a brownie,” the creature corrected in a patronizing way, “I’ve told ya, youn’ miss. We’s tha donnfay, not this brownie ya be callin’ us.”
“I know,” Rhaya said. “But that’s what we call creatures like you where we come from. Brownies. They’re a sort of tiny elf who help with chores and stuff if you leave out an offering.”
“Silly talk,” the donnfay clucked her tongue. “No donnfay where ya come from. Can’t survive there. No matter, call me what ya like. I’ll tend t’ tha breakfast now.”
Zelene plopped down on the bed she had bumped into, letting out an exasperated breath. “That’s it. That does the trick. I have really lost my mind.”
“If you have, then so have we,” Rhaya said, gesturing to a girl on a bed on the opposite side of Zelene’s. “This is Isauria. I’m pretty sure she’s your sister.”
“And how did you sort that out?” Zelene thought she remembered her supposed father telling her about another sister besides her twin, but she was having trouble keeping up with her new family tree on top of everything else.
Rhaya gave her a dubious look. “Well, for starters, I used my eyes. It’s pretty obvious, I think.”
Zelene stood up and peered over at the other girl. She had red hair as well though her sister’s was more of a ginger color than hers, and they both seemed to share the same freckles sprinkled across their creamy cheeks. “Yeah, okay. I can see how you might come to that conclusion,” she conceded. “So what does that make you? How do you fit into this new family or whatever?”
“I don’t know,” Rhaya answered, her mouth scrunched up in thought. “We arrived last night, and they pretty much brought us straight here, gave us something I’m starting to think was their version of Nyquil, and that’s all I remember.”
Zelene’s nodded knowingly, still feeling the groggy aftereffects of whatever drug Bianca had given them. She wasn’t too thrilled at being drugged, but she could tell from the brief introductions yesterday that their arrival had taken the people here by surprise. “I guess they needed time to figure out what to do with us,” she mused out loud. “Well, it’s nice to meet you Rhaya, whoever the hell you are.”
“She is your cousin,” a soft new voice said in an accent that made Zelene think she might have stepped into a Jane Austen novel.
They both looked up to see a young woman of about twenty-four hobbling toward them. She had one arm wrapped around her abdomen as she used the other to grip bed rails for support as she made her way over to them. Her dark brown hair was tangled and falling out of a messy braid. Her face in a grimace in an effort to reach them, determined as she was. Rhaya immediately came to her aid, taking her arm, and leading her to the bed Zelene had been sleeping in.
“Thank you,” the young woman said as she lowered herself down. She smoothed out the skirt of her dress, fidgeting with the hem. She smiled anxiously at Rhaya as the raven-haired girl sat down beside her.
“Okay, Rhaya’s my cousin,” Zelene said, picking up where they had left off. “And you would be who?”
“Terrena,” she answered. “I am also your cousin.” She turned to Rhaya and affectionately took her hand. “And I am your sister, Rhaya.”
Rhaya blinked rapidly. “Really?”
“What’s the matter?” Zelene asked sarcastically. “Can’t look at her and tell?”
Ignoring Zelene’s comment, Rhaya kept her focus on her sister. “Sorry, I just…I didn’t realize I had a sister, I guess. Raemann never mentioned you before, but then I guess he wouldn’t, would he?”
“I understand,” Terrena said as she rested her head on the pillows behind her. Her heavy lids shaded her eyes momentarily, the pain of her still-healing wounds showed on her face. “I know this is a lot to take in, but if you use your gift, you will be able to see I am telling the truth.”
“Gift?” Zelene parroted snidely. “Care to share with the class?”
“We all have specific abilities based on the elements we represent. Like Isauria. She was born under Air and thus has the gift of seeing,” Terrena turned to Rhaya. “You are born of Water, and the gift of knowing.”
“The gift of knowing?” Zelene repeated sarcastically. “Can you vague that up for us a bit? It’s not quite unclear enough yet.”
“I’m basically an empath,” Rhaya explained succinctly. “I can sense what people are feeling.”
“As if it weren’t already obvious by your eye color,” Terrena said with a wry smile directed toward her young cousin, “your temperament gives you away to be of Fire. Which means you must be Zelene. Your gift—”
Zelene held up a hand to stop her. “Is either the art of getting the crap beat out of me, or something I don’t want to know right now. I’m already on information overload here.”
Interested?
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